By Veto Roley/Sports Writer

GAUTIER — The silver edition of the Singing River Classic was just that, a classic.

Keon McNeil threw a pair of touchdown passes in the last three minutes of the game to lead Gautier to a 49-42 comeback victory over arch-rival Pascagoula Thursday night in a key Region 4-6A encounter.
The win propels the Gators (6-4, 2-3) in upcoming Class 6A South State playoffs, as the third seed in the region. Gautier has now made the playoffs five times in the last six years, missing the playoffs last year.

Gautier coach Marc High said the goal each year was to make the playoffs. “Our players fought hard and gave it everything they had,” said High.
For McNeil the game offered redemption as he was making his first start in two games. He noted that Gautier was in the same spot they were in last year only to be denied by the Panthers who won the rivalry game 49-12.
“The win feels really good,” McNeil said, adding that next year’s goal is to host a first-round game.
The win also gives Gautier a fifth win in the last seven years between the two schools, which are part of the same school district.
With the loss, Pascagoula (3-7, 1-4) misses the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
For Panthers coach Zach Green, the loss was another loss caused by youth and inexperience. However, he noted he had 15 starters coming back next year.

“Perhaps these games will teach us how to close out games,” he said. “The future looks very good.”
Behind Jason Glaude, who threw for two scores and ran for three other touchdowns, the Panthers took a 42-35 lead with three minutes left to play with Glaude returning after missing two plays due to injury and powering it in from the 3. The Panthers then ran a trick play with Keelan Harper taking the wide receiver reverse before passing to Glaude in the endzone.
However, a strong return by Latrell Pogue on the kickoff set Gautier up at their own 47. McNeil would connect with Pogue on throws of 12 and eight yards and Dustin Magee would run for 16 to quickly propel the Gators to their 15.
From there, McNeil would connect with Jueiz Watson for 15 yards to tie the game with 1:26 left to go in the game.
Pascagoula would have to punt on their next possession after Harper was tackled out of bounds on an end around. The spot following the run put the ball at the Panthers 33, two yards short, forcing the Panthers to give Gautier the ball back at the Gators 31 with 52 seconds left to play.

On the second play of the drive, McNeil hit Watson for 15 yards, but a personal foul called against Pascagoula moved the ball to the Panthers 26. McNeil didn’t waste any time, finding Devon Garrett for the go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds left to play.
“I knew it was my time,” said McNeil after Pascagoula scored to go ahead 42-35. “We were on the sidelines thinking, ‘We’ve got to score, we’ve got to score.’”
High said he wasn’t too concerned when Pascagoula scored to take the lead with three minutes left to play.
“We’ve been doing this all year,” he said. “We stop ourselves, but nothing stops us.”
Gautier appeared to break open a close game late in the first half. With the scored tied at 21 each, McNeil scored on a fourth down play scrambling in from 8 yards out with 2:20 left in the game.
However, a personal foul on the kickoff gave Pascagoula the ball at their 42, from where Glaude went to work. After converting on fourth down at the Gautier 24 by getting the Gators to jump offside, Glaude carried the ball twice to get inside the 3.

That would be as close as the Panthers would come before the half concluded with Jaden Allen picking Glaude off in the endzone, his second interception of the half.
Gautier got the opening kickoff in the second half with McNeil connecting with Canin Booker for 48 yards before hitting Kingston McNeil on a 34 yard strike to put Gautier up 35-21.
“That makes the second time this has happened to us this year,” said High of Gautier’s scoring before half and then on  the opening drive of the second half only to allow the other team to come back. “We’ve got to learn to power through these situations.”
Glaude, though, would bring PHS back, hitting Arabian Johnson for a 16-yard score to get Pascagoula back to within a touchdown and then, early in the fourth quarter, connecting with Johnson on a 36-yard strike to bring Panthers to within one, 35-34 after a missed extra point.
“It was back and forth,” said Green, who noted his team has had several chances in the fourth quarter to come away with a win. “We’ve got to find a way to close out games.”